The first question anyone landing on your page from an ad is going to ask is, am I in the right place?

And then, the person will most likely begin looking for cues that the page can actually deliver what the ad has promised.

Using different headlines will most likely suggest that the two are in fact disconnected and will make the person bounce off.

Why?

Because, as Dr. Ed Chi, a Xerox Palo Alto Researcher suggested, we humans follow information in a similar way as animals follow a scent. This behavior is called “hub and spoke” surfing and here’s how one article explains it:

“They [humans] begin at the center, and they follow a trail based on its information scent…. If the scent is sufficiently strong, the surfer will continue to go on that trail. But if the trail is weak, they go back to the hub.”

According to Dr. Ed Chi, people follow this process until their needs are fully satisfied.

By testing different headlines you break off the scent and create a sense of irrelevancy, suggesting that your visitor might have landed in a wrong place after all.

That’s why in this test, a headline matching the ad outperformed the other, generic one by 115%.

But when it comes to your Call to Action (and other elements on a page too), their color doesn’t matter.

What matters however is whether a button stands out on a page and visitors notice it right away.

Colors could certainly help to achieve that but ultimately, what color you choose is less important than how much contrast from other elements on a page it provides.

The same goes for the button’s copy.

It doesn’t matter what color it is set out in as long as:

The button is clearly readable and,

It entices a person to take action.

So instead of testing colors, split test a button’s visibility. If this means changing its color, do so. it may as well involve testing different sizes or copy as well.

4. Layout

It’s a common cliche:

The position of elements on a page affects their performance.

Perhaps there is some truth in it.

But there’s something way more important to placement:

Usability.

In other words, swapping elements from left to right might make a difference but making them easier to use will make an even bigger one.

Take an email form for example.

Make it too long and regardless where you place it on a page, users still won’t complete it.

The same goes for a checkout:

According to Statista for instance, 8 of 14 most common reasons for shopping cart abandonment are related to poor checkout experience.

Therefore, instead of shuffling forms and other elements from one side of the screen to the other, consider running tests that improve their usability:

Test shorter version of the form,

Try out different form headlines to see which one convinces users to act,

Do the same with the form’s Call to Action button,

If you have to use a longer form, see if splitting it into a number sections or pages improves conversions,

Split form fields into two columns and so on.

Here are few examples of well designed forms (that could have been placed anywhere else on a page):

5. Language

I’m sure you’ll agree:

Writing ad copy can be challenging.

For one, character limits often make it impossible to include all the information you’d want. Not to mention giving you space to use the language your audience would resonate with.

But those limitations don’t exist on landing pages.

And thus it might be tempting to test language variations. This often includes testing different headlines but also:

Different discount or other incentive. Your ad might promise 15% discount, but faced with low take on this you might decide to test if changing it to 20% would make a difference.

Adding different social proof. For instance, featuring testimonial on the ad but customer logos on a landing page.

Using urgency on a landing page (but not on the ad). For instance, your ad might offer a “free trial” but you might decide to test different call to action (i.e. “sign up for a trial now”) on a landing page.

The problem with these tests is that, once again, they create discrepancy between the language of the ad and the wording on the landing page.

For instance, “Free trial” suggests a quick way to test the app at no cost. But using “Sign up for trial now” might tell the user that they may have to commit to the product long-term.

Therefore, even if you decide to test the wording on a page, make sure that you use a consistent message between the ad and the landing page.

Comments

I think you made a good point – indeed it’s important not to test your Facebook Ads Landing Page in vacuum, and ensure that there is congruence between your Facebook Ad and your Landing Page.

For one of my clients previously, we had 5 dedicated landing pages with different elements that we tested – layout, images, copies, and since each landing page had a different link, we could easily create ads for each landing page.

But not everyone will be able to do that. It’s harder to make a change to your landing page than it would be to your Facebook Ad.

That’s why when you test your Facebook Ads, generally you might face lower conversion rates because your Ads do not have the same image or copy as your landing page. So another advice would be to ask users to start off testing different headlines and images with Facebook Ads, pick the ones with the highest CTR, and make those changes to their landing pages.

Although not 100% foolproof, this is one of the techniques you can use to improve your landing page performance in the long-term.

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